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New Skits

3093229_300If you haven’t been to the website recently, it might be worth your while.  I added three new skits this week.  All three were added as part of the “Confronting Your Giants” skit series.  However, I also listed one of those as a one-act skit.  It is entitled “Good Intentions.”  While it does deal with the “giant” of neglecting prayer and the Word, it is a powerful skit that could pretty much be used any time because it deals with our good intentions to have a daily quiet time, and the excuses we make.  It is a short, powerful skit that can stand alone in just about any setting. Take a look at this skit–you’ll find it here.

Posted in: News & Information, Resources, Skits, Website News

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Responsibilities of a Retreat Coordinator

The position we call “retreat coordinator” may or may not be filled by the ministry leader.  In our case, our pastor’s wife is the ministry leader.  But she is called upon for many other needs, and it would be very hard for her to coordinate the retreat both in the planning stages and at the retreat. That is why we have a retreat coordinator.  She reports to the ministry leader, but does the organization and supervision involved in planning a retreat.  It is important to have this position filled by a strong leader.

The best way to really see what the retreat coordinator does is to look at one of our flow charts.  She is like the hub of the retreat, and other leaders are in charge of various aspects of the retreat.  But everything is overseen by the coordinator.

The coordinator is involved in the retreat from the beginning – determining the who, when, where and what of the retreat.  As retreat planning begins, depending on what is most important to you, you book the speaker and date of the retreat, OR you book the venue on a certain date and then find the speaker who can work with you on your chosen date.  The retreat coordinator communicates with the speaker throughout the planning stages and works with the venue so that a contract can be signed.  Once you have the date, a speaker and a venue, then the fun begins.  If your speaker has not already suggested a theme, one of the preliminary planning activities is determining the retreat theme.

Once the basics have been confirmed, the coordinator works with a leadership team who will report back to her and/or she will hold their hand as they go through the process of planning the retreat.  The leadership team is given responsibility to oversee the various ingredients of the retreat:  registration, greeting, printed material, prayer team, skit, workshops, etc.  In small churches like ours, the members of the leadership team often takes on more than one of these responsibilities.  But the need for one person to coordinate remains.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in: Developing Leadership, Lessons Learned, News & Information, Realities of Ministry, Retreat and Event Planning, Starting Points in Retreat Planning

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I Love Lists…and a Predictable Day!

iStock_000005092097XSmall-todo-list-notebookI love lists.  I love making lists…and I love crossing items off that list! Sometimes I make a list just so I can cross items off.

Maybe pride is involved, because it gives me a sense of satisfaction as I see, in a tangible way, the things I have accomplished in a day.  However, it is not just selfish things on those lists.  The lists may include ministry tasks, letters to write, calls to make that pertain to ministry, in addition to my personal goals for the day.  The perfect day in my eyes would include my quiet time, accomplishments of my daily tasks, and significant progress on “the list.”

Unfortunately, that “perfect day” is a rarity.  Why?  People.  People interrupt.  People have needs.  People want to talk.  People want my time.  People have problems that don’t have an easy or convenient solution.  People don’t get checked off a list so easily.

But if I look at the example of Jesus, I see that His priority was people.  He saw them with eyes of compassion and reached out and ministered to them at every opportunity.  His single-minded purpose included all of those interruptions and inconveniences caused by the needs of those around Him.

 

Posted in: Inspirations, News & Information, Realities of Ministry

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A Dessert Option

We recently served the pictured mini-bundt cakes at a women’s event.  They were ordered from a company in our area called “Nothing Bundt Cakes” which I have no problem recommending, as they were delicious.  However, you may not have that franchise nearby.  But what I want to bring to your attention is the little containers these cakes came in and in which we served them.  Having a prepackaged dessert like that turned out to be a blessing in more ways than one.  First, it eliminated the need for paper plates (though we did have napkins), saving money.  A bonus benefit was that it reduced the mess considerably, compared to serving slices of cake or cupcakes.  But we found an unexpected benefit:  The little containers made it easy for the ladies to take home any leftovers that they hadn’t finished!  So many ladies pay for the event, but possibly don’t want to eat sweets or can’t finish it.  This way, they can easily take home whatever is left to enjoy another day!  _29B4252

Posted in: Little Things Make a Big Difference!, Money-Saving Tips, News & Information, Resources

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Sweet Resource

This is a closeup of the little giveaway for our women’s event theme “Singing in the Rain.”  It perfectly brought in the elements of an umbrella and “raindrops,” represented by the Hershey kisses.  But note the stickers on he bottom of the kiss.  Were you aware that there is a place where you can buy these personalized stickers at a reasonable price?  We chose our theme verse to put on the bottom of the kisses.  However, the products on this website could be used in so many ways to make a sweet giveaway for any women’s event.  Check out www.ClassicCandyCovers.com.  _29B4214

Posted in: News & Information, Resources, Retreat Remembrances

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